Six and a half years for an abusive “monster” whose partner took her own life

A “monster” who subjected his vulnerable partner to assault and years of domestic abuse but was cleared of manslaughter has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Ryan Wellings, 30, was cleared of the unlawful murder of 23-year-old Kiena Dawes, who left a suicide note in which she called her partner a “monster” who “killed me.”

She left a letter and a nine-month-old daughter with a friend, and then committed suicide on the railway line on July 22, 2022.

Prosecutors took the extremely unusual step of charging Wellings with manslaughter, and he was the first defendant to stand trial for the unlawful killing of his partner after her suicide as a result of domestic violence.

He was convicted of assault and coercion and control for two years, but on Monday a jury cleared him of murder after a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutor Paul Greaney KC urged the judge to sentence Wellings on the basis that his conduct “formed the background and set the stage” for Ms Dawes’ death.

Passing sentence, Judge Robert Altham, Honorary Secretary of the City of Preston, told Wellings: ‘By the accounts of many witnesses, Kiena Dawes was a popular, lively, friendly and kind young woman.

“You attacked and molested her many times. You beat her repeatedly and she took to the messages to beg you to stop hitting her.

“Knowing her previous suicide attempts and her fragile mental state, you repeatedly told her she might as well kill herself.”

As Miss Dawes’ mother, Angela Dawes, and extended family watched from the public gallery, Judge Altham told the defendant he made her feel worthless, blamed herself for the assault and that she was an “unfit mother”.

He told Wellings that the jury had acquitted him of manslaughter and must convict him on the basis that he was not “criminally responsible” for Miss Dawes’ death.

But he added: “Yet from May 2020 until her death, you abused, exploited and attacked her.”

During the trial, the jury heard that Mrs Dawes, a hairdresser from Fleetwood, Lancashire, had suffered violence and abuse from Wellings for two years.

She was diagnosed with an emotionally unstable personality disorder, resulting in increased impulsivity, low self-esteem and difficulties in relationships, which the accused allegedly exploited.

She had attempted suicide in the past before her relationship with Wellings, and his lawyers told the court there were “many factors” involved in her death.

Energetic and cheerful, she was “swept off her feet” by Wellings, a gardener from Bispham who had previously been convicted of abusing his former partner, the mother of his twin daughters.

Within a week of meeting Wellings had Mrs. Dawes’s name and face tattooed on his body, and within three months he proposed.

However, she later said her “fairy tale” turned into a “nightmare” with Wellings, who had a mischievous nature and regularly binged on cocaine and drinking, the court heard.

Described by Mr Greaney as an “entitled, aggressive tyrant” and by Mrs Dawes’s friends as a “terrible little bastard” with a tendency to jealousy, he did not like being talked down to.

Judges heard Ms Dawes’ abuse included regularly hitting and “scratching” her hair and threats to use a drill to pull out her teeth and “make her look like Katie Piper” by throwing acid in her face.

When she became pregnant, Wellings gave her a black eye and began criticizing her weight, calling her a “fat bitch”, by contacting escorts and prostitutes online.

Friends and her mother told Ms Dawes to “run a mile away” from the “toxic” Wellings, but as he made excuses for his behavior, a pattern of breaking up and making up developed.

The police were called more than once, but Wellings threatened Mrs. Dawes that he would take their daughter away from them if she told them what was happening, so she refused to help pursue him.

Mr Greaney read Mrs Dawes’s suicide note to the jury: ‘It’s over. I fought hard, I fought long. I experienced pain that no one could imagine.

“I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me. He destroyed every bit of strength I had left. I had dreams. At one point I had a future. That was taken away from me.”

Wellings admitted he was “severe” towards Ms Dawes but claimed any injuries she suffered were accidental or a result of his attempt to restrain her.

The latest beating “broke” Mrs. Dawes, requiring hospital treatment. This time she gave a statement to the police and the man was arrested.

He breached bail conditions but was not jailed, leaving Mrs Dawes feeling let down by the police. Four days later she committed suicide.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Dawes’ mother, Angela Dawes, said she believed Wellings’ prosecution had once again “violated” her daughter, adding: “I had to sit through an almost six-week trial and watch my daughter’s private life was broken down and her mental health was examined and assessed. It has been violated. There is no other word for it.

“It was extremely traumatic for me to see Kiena so upset talking to police officers and to look back at her, so helpless in life, looking for help, knowing what ultimately happened to her.”

Three Lancashire Police officers face disciplinary hearings over the case.

Only one other defendant has previously been convicted in such circumstances – Nicholas Allen, who pleaded guilty to the murder of his partner, Justene Reece, before his trial in 2017.

The study shows that between 2020 and 2023, police in England and Wales identified 723 deaths related to domestic violence, 216 of which were suspected suicides.

– Samaritans can be reached on 116 123 or at www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/.